Amid a duel against the Sharks, the Vegas Golden Knights in San Jose had to scramble and change hotels because the league’s designated sleeping place suddenly filed for bankruptcy.
Referring to financial problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fairmont Hotel, a landmark in downtown San Jose, closed its doors, but according to the San Jose Mercury News, it will return within two to three months. reopen and resume.
That puts a dent in the NHL’s plans to host visiting teams in San Jose, and the Golden Knights did not have to gather their possessions and change their abode not long after their 5-4 win over the Sharks on Friday night.
“It was a surreal experience,” Golden Knights coach Pete DeBoer told the Las Vegas Sun. “Hopefully it’s the end of the COVID year, but it’s almost the topping for the last year for everyone in the world. Just one more thing thrown at you, one more thing to do.
“Not that I put it in the same breath as handling COVID, but it was just one of the things we threw at ourselves, we handled it.”
Max Pacioretty scored his second goal of the game in overtime on Friday, leading the Golden Knights to victory, pushing Vegas’ winning streak to five. But the enthusiasm was not interrupted long after the goal.
“This is the first time for everyone on our team,” Vegas defender Nick Holden said.
The Golden Knights tackle the Sharks Saturday night to close out the rugby set before traveling to Minnesota to meet the Wild.
But the accommodation issue will remain in San Jose. The Fairmont was the destination for all the Sharks’ opponents, and with the St. Louis Blues on Monday to San Jose, the league will have to draw up a new hotel strategy.
The Mercury News reports that the Fairmont, a hotel with 805 rooms, is trying to find a management partner and extend its existing mortgage debt. The newspaper also reported that the hotel’s total debt is between $ 100 million and $ 500 million.